Please note that due to its length, this trip report is split into two parts. This is part II; part I of the report can be accessed via the following link: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/indonesia/328756-trip-report-raja-ampat-paradise-dancer-part-i.html
Diving Specifics
There are two fairly distinct diving areas in Raja Ampat: the north, including the major islands and island groupings of Batanta, Waigeo (Aljui Bay), Fam and Gam (the north is also where the Kri Eco Resort/Sorido Bay Resort are located), and the south, around the Misool area and the Forundi, Boo Rocks and Fiabacet islands (the south is where the new Misool Eco Resort is located).
Overall, the diving in Raja Ampat is not too deep. On most dives, my maximum depth was about 20m and on a few it was 25m. This afforded dives that were never less than 60 minutes and frequently were close to 70 minutes (dives were planned at 60 minutes).
Visibility, as should be expected in this part of the world, is not like the Caribbean. But because the waters are so rich in nutrients – and as a consequence, the water is not gin-clear – the diversity of marine life is amazining. In general, visibility in the south is better at about 15-20 meters, while in the north Raja Ampat area it might be 10-15 meters.
With respect to water temperature and exposure protection, I used a 3mm full wetsuit in waters that were consistently 28 or 29C. Some of the other divers who may get cold a bit easier also wore hooded vests with their wetsuits or a 5mm.
With that as an introduction, let me get on to the details of the actual dives. In the late afternoon of the first day, we left Sorong headed north first. Our destination was the northern side of Batanta Island, about four or five hours away, where we would do four dives the next day. The weather was sunny and warm with very calm seas and honestly, it stayed this way for our entire time in the northern part of Raja Amapt.
As we were getting ready to start our first dive of the trip, we spotted a manta off the side of the boat…a very good beginning. While we didn’t see the manta once we got in, there were lots of other great things on offer. Numerous nudis, mostly in the Chromodorididae and Polyceridae families (mainly from the Nembrothinae sub-family), were seen off of Batanta island and on most of the other dives of the trip. That said, we also flabellina, ianthina, tamba and various flatworms. The first day of diving also included octopus, cuttlefish, long-nosed hawkfish, various pipefish, and on the night dive, a juvenile bat fish, Raja Epaulette shark and several velutinids….and these are just the highlights! It was a great first day to what would be a great trip.
Overnight we cruised to Aljui Bay on the west side of Waigeo Island, our northern-most point of the trip. Aljui Bay is a quite beautiful and protected bay where Cendana Indo Pearls from Australia has a large farm (see comments below). The diving here is muck-like, but there is still plenty of both hard and soft coral to enjoy. Interesting sightings in Aljui Bay included our first pygmy seahorses (bargabanti) and tassled wobbegong sharks, juvenile barramundi, mantis shrimp, fire urchins (unfortunately no coleman shrimp or zebra crabs) and huge numbers of nudibranchs. At night we were fortunate to encounter a few more Raja Epaulette sharks, wobbegong sharks, squid, ornate ghost pipefish, cockatoo waspfish, octopus, juvenile batfish, decorator crabs, spider crabs and much more. You will quickly get tired of hearing me say this, but it was another great day of diving.
We moved again overnight, this time to the area near Kri Eco Resort/Sorido Bay. The big attraction this morning is Manta Sandy which, as the name suggests, is a manta dive. Thankfully, the weather was clear and sunny, and the visability underwater has gotten better (15 – 20 meters). Another type of pygmy seahorse, Hippocampus Ponthi, was spotted today, as well as numerous dragon sea moths, moray eels, porcelain crabs, bumphead parrotfish, bobtail squid and various nudibranchs and flatworms that I have yet to identify. Of course what got everyone excited were the mantas on the first dive. Upon entering the water and for the first 35-40 minutes of the dive we had one big manta that would come and go. Then, about 40 minutes into the dive, we had four of them dancing around in front of us with the photographers and videographers shooting away. While this was an excellent dive, overall the diving on this day was not quite up to the same mind-blowing level as the past two days (don’t get me wrong, it was still very, very good).
Day five of the trip saw us moving towards the southern part of what I call the northern Raja Ampat area. We will only do three dives today and then we have a 14+ hour journey to the south. The day started at Melissa’s Garden, a site named for Max Ammer’s (the owner of Kri Eco Resort and someone who has probably forgotten more about Raja Ampat than anyone else knows) daughter. I don’t know anything about his daughter, but the site is beautiful. Highlights of this site and others on the programme for the day include more wobbegongs, my first ever sighting of jawfish with eggs in its mouth, orangutan crabs, mushroom coral pipefish, more bargabanti pygmy seahorses and the usual compliment of nudis and flatworms, including jorunna funebris, flabellina exoptata and flabellina macassarana.
Day six brings us to the south Raja Ampat area, the Forondi Islands to be specific, and also some clouds in the sky with what appears to be some rain in the distance. My overall impression of the diving in the south is that the coral is a bit nicer, it involves more wall diving, vis is better, but the density of critters is somewhat less. Today we saw more pygmy seahorses (hippocampus denise), turtles, octopus (I was surprised at how many octopus we saw on this trip…although no blue ring octopus), mantis shrimp and on the night dive a nice hookjaw moray.
Over the next few days the weather was cloudy with some patches of sun and a bit more wind than we had in the north. The diving remained excellent, especially the corals, although as noted earlier, we saw somewhat fewer critters. That said, nudis and flatworms remained abundant and we saw our one and only frogfish on the trip in the south; other sightings included large barramundi, a few white tip and black tip sharks, satomi and bargabanti pygmy seahorses (sometimes several on a single seafan), turtles, smallish schools of barracuda, a banded sea snake, various eels (yellowmargin and green moray) soft coral crabs (a favourite of mine), xeno crabs and on one dive, some of the other divers saw mobula rays.
On the tenth day of the trip we only did three dives as we needed to prepare for the return to Sorong. We would travel north 14 hours or so and enjoy two muck dives on day eleven in the black sand of Batanta Island (south side). I had started using one of the other guest’s camera a day or two ago and was really enjoying it. Although it was a compact digital without a strobe, I was shooting macro, so was able to get at least a few acceptable shots. I have to say that my skills benefited significantly from some of the tutoring that I received from another guest (thank you!!).
The two muck dives were, for me, some of the best dives of the trip. The guides were finding everything…a snake eel, ornate ghost pipefish, a napoleon snake eel (very cool), wanderpus, mimic octopus, seahorses, too many types of nudis to include in this report, mantis shrimp, and a real highlight for me, a tozeuma armatum shrimp (rather rare and I had never seen one before).
In summary, the diving was excellent. I have seen a lot of weird and wonderful things underwater in my years of diving, but Raja Ampat offered my best experience thus far. Pristine reefs and plenty to see, both large and small.
Dining and Other Activities while on the Paradise Dancer
Food on board the Paradise Dancer was very good, especially when one considers that food shopping in Sorong is limited. That said, some food is flown in from Bali and fresh fish is sometimes bought from local fisherman.
The day begins at about 6:00AM with cold cereal and fruit available and then hot meals throughout the day, including a snack mid-afternoon. Breakfast after the first dive is cooked to order and lunch is a buffet. Weather permitting, all meals are served outside. Soft drinks, beer and one glass of wine at dinner are all included in the price of the trip. Spirits and additional wine are available at an additional cost (note that this is a change in policy at Peter Hughes as all wine used to be included in the price of the trip). A recommendation here might be to bring a bottle or two of your favourite wine as the cost of a bottle of wine on board the boat is rather expensive. If you are thinking about doing this, bear in mind the excess baggage costs that I mentioned above.
All-in-all, the food was of very high quality and the service by Henrick and Agus was outstanding.
As far as other activities are concerned, the only things on offer during my trip were a tour of the pearl farm in the north and a slide show about the construction of the Paradise dancer and tour of the engine room. Knowing virtually nothing about pearls, I found the pear farm tour tour (about 1½ hours) to be very interesting. The slide show about the Paradise Dancer, offered on the next to last day of the trip, was also interesting. I would like to see a few other non-diving activities offered during the trip. Maybe they could have some sea kayaks on board or offer what I understand is an excellent tour of some caves in the north. Another option would be a tour of the new Misool Eco Resort in the south (we moored within sight of it for about 24 hours).
Massages are available on board for a relatively modest fee (I think USD10). I did not avail myself of this pleasure, but understand that they were quite good, although a bit deep in terms of pressure. I prefer a softer touch, so wasn’t very interested other than the short neck and back rub following each dive.
One afternoon during the trip the crew will raise the sails. The only reason this is done is so that everybody can take pictures. Once the sails are raised, the guests get in the dive tenders and circle the boat to take pictures from various points. After everyone has taken their pictures and are back on the mother ship, the sails are lowered.
Getting Away
On the final morning of the trip a hot breakfast is available and then you are taken to the airport. I left the boat at about 7:15AM for my 9:25AM return flight to Manado on Wings Airlines. Peter Hughes staff take you to the airport and assist with the entire check-in procedure. For the Wings Airlines flight, I had a 15kg baggage allowance and was charged about IDR15,000 for each kilo over the limit. The flight was uneventful and arrived in plenty of time to allow me to catch my connecting flight on Silk Air to Singapore.
One small thing that I found a bit irritating is that upon arrival and departure in Sarong, Peter Hughes insists that you use a porter for your checked luggage. Peter Hughes staff arrange this for you and says that it is a requirement at the Sarong airport.
Well, if it is a requirement, then it only applies to foreigners as the locals certainly weren’t using porters. All of this isn’t so bad, but in addition to not being given a choice, you are required to pay for it (USD1 per bag; it is included in the bill that you receive at the end of the trip). Obviously the amount is small, but for a trip costing in excess of USD4,000 you would think that Peter Hughes could cover the USD2 or USD3 tip to the porters that is “required”.
Other Observations, Comments and Conclusions
About a week after I returned home from my trip, I received an online customer satisfaction survey from Peter Hughes. It wasn’t very detailed, but I completed it, offering some of the comments noted above and returned it. To their credit, an official from Peter Hughes responded to me.
With respect to the diver to guide ratio, he noted that “Having a guide ratio of 4:1 while diving is not something offered on any of the Dancer Fleet yachts. All of our yachts are around 8:1 or 9:1. What we can do though is to be sure our Planning Guide information includes more specific details on how the dives are conducted so that everyone is fully informed of the process.” Personally, I find this a bit disappointing when similar operations like the Arenui, Damai, Wakatobi and Pelagian all have diver to guide ratios of approximately 4:1.
In summary, it was an excellent trip and without question I will return to the Raja Ampat area (I am thinking March/April 2011). In choosing a boat, I will need to see how many guests are on the Paradise Dancer. If it is more than twelve, the diver-to-guide ratio may cause me to consider another boat (Arenui, Seven Seas, etc); otherwise, I would be very happy to go on the Paradise Dancer as the crew, the boat, the dive guides were all among the best that I have experienced.
Diving Specifics
There are two fairly distinct diving areas in Raja Ampat: the north, including the major islands and island groupings of Batanta, Waigeo (Aljui Bay), Fam and Gam (the north is also where the Kri Eco Resort/Sorido Bay Resort are located), and the south, around the Misool area and the Forundi, Boo Rocks and Fiabacet islands (the south is where the new Misool Eco Resort is located).
Overall, the diving in Raja Ampat is not too deep. On most dives, my maximum depth was about 20m and on a few it was 25m. This afforded dives that were never less than 60 minutes and frequently were close to 70 minutes (dives were planned at 60 minutes).
Visibility, as should be expected in this part of the world, is not like the Caribbean. But because the waters are so rich in nutrients – and as a consequence, the water is not gin-clear – the diversity of marine life is amazining. In general, visibility in the south is better at about 15-20 meters, while in the north Raja Ampat area it might be 10-15 meters.
With respect to water temperature and exposure protection, I used a 3mm full wetsuit in waters that were consistently 28 or 29C. Some of the other divers who may get cold a bit easier also wore hooded vests with their wetsuits or a 5mm.
With that as an introduction, let me get on to the details of the actual dives. In the late afternoon of the first day, we left Sorong headed north first. Our destination was the northern side of Batanta Island, about four or five hours away, where we would do four dives the next day. The weather was sunny and warm with very calm seas and honestly, it stayed this way for our entire time in the northern part of Raja Amapt.
As we were getting ready to start our first dive of the trip, we spotted a manta off the side of the boat…a very good beginning. While we didn’t see the manta once we got in, there were lots of other great things on offer. Numerous nudis, mostly in the Chromodorididae and Polyceridae families (mainly from the Nembrothinae sub-family), were seen off of Batanta island and on most of the other dives of the trip. That said, we also flabellina, ianthina, tamba and various flatworms. The first day of diving also included octopus, cuttlefish, long-nosed hawkfish, various pipefish, and on the night dive, a juvenile bat fish, Raja Epaulette shark and several velutinids….and these are just the highlights! It was a great first day to what would be a great trip.
Overnight we cruised to Aljui Bay on the west side of Waigeo Island, our northern-most point of the trip. Aljui Bay is a quite beautiful and protected bay where Cendana Indo Pearls from Australia has a large farm (see comments below). The diving here is muck-like, but there is still plenty of both hard and soft coral to enjoy. Interesting sightings in Aljui Bay included our first pygmy seahorses (bargabanti) and tassled wobbegong sharks, juvenile barramundi, mantis shrimp, fire urchins (unfortunately no coleman shrimp or zebra crabs) and huge numbers of nudibranchs. At night we were fortunate to encounter a few more Raja Epaulette sharks, wobbegong sharks, squid, ornate ghost pipefish, cockatoo waspfish, octopus, juvenile batfish, decorator crabs, spider crabs and much more. You will quickly get tired of hearing me say this, but it was another great day of diving.
We moved again overnight, this time to the area near Kri Eco Resort/Sorido Bay. The big attraction this morning is Manta Sandy which, as the name suggests, is a manta dive. Thankfully, the weather was clear and sunny, and the visability underwater has gotten better (15 – 20 meters). Another type of pygmy seahorse, Hippocampus Ponthi, was spotted today, as well as numerous dragon sea moths, moray eels, porcelain crabs, bumphead parrotfish, bobtail squid and various nudibranchs and flatworms that I have yet to identify. Of course what got everyone excited were the mantas on the first dive. Upon entering the water and for the first 35-40 minutes of the dive we had one big manta that would come and go. Then, about 40 minutes into the dive, we had four of them dancing around in front of us with the photographers and videographers shooting away. While this was an excellent dive, overall the diving on this day was not quite up to the same mind-blowing level as the past two days (don’t get me wrong, it was still very, very good).
Day five of the trip saw us moving towards the southern part of what I call the northern Raja Ampat area. We will only do three dives today and then we have a 14+ hour journey to the south. The day started at Melissa’s Garden, a site named for Max Ammer’s (the owner of Kri Eco Resort and someone who has probably forgotten more about Raja Ampat than anyone else knows) daughter. I don’t know anything about his daughter, but the site is beautiful. Highlights of this site and others on the programme for the day include more wobbegongs, my first ever sighting of jawfish with eggs in its mouth, orangutan crabs, mushroom coral pipefish, more bargabanti pygmy seahorses and the usual compliment of nudis and flatworms, including jorunna funebris, flabellina exoptata and flabellina macassarana.
Day six brings us to the south Raja Ampat area, the Forondi Islands to be specific, and also some clouds in the sky with what appears to be some rain in the distance. My overall impression of the diving in the south is that the coral is a bit nicer, it involves more wall diving, vis is better, but the density of critters is somewhat less. Today we saw more pygmy seahorses (hippocampus denise), turtles, octopus (I was surprised at how many octopus we saw on this trip…although no blue ring octopus), mantis shrimp and on the night dive a nice hookjaw moray.
Over the next few days the weather was cloudy with some patches of sun and a bit more wind than we had in the north. The diving remained excellent, especially the corals, although as noted earlier, we saw somewhat fewer critters. That said, nudis and flatworms remained abundant and we saw our one and only frogfish on the trip in the south; other sightings included large barramundi, a few white tip and black tip sharks, satomi and bargabanti pygmy seahorses (sometimes several on a single seafan), turtles, smallish schools of barracuda, a banded sea snake, various eels (yellowmargin and green moray) soft coral crabs (a favourite of mine), xeno crabs and on one dive, some of the other divers saw mobula rays.
On the tenth day of the trip we only did three dives as we needed to prepare for the return to Sorong. We would travel north 14 hours or so and enjoy two muck dives on day eleven in the black sand of Batanta Island (south side). I had started using one of the other guest’s camera a day or two ago and was really enjoying it. Although it was a compact digital without a strobe, I was shooting macro, so was able to get at least a few acceptable shots. I have to say that my skills benefited significantly from some of the tutoring that I received from another guest (thank you!!).
The two muck dives were, for me, some of the best dives of the trip. The guides were finding everything…a snake eel, ornate ghost pipefish, a napoleon snake eel (very cool), wanderpus, mimic octopus, seahorses, too many types of nudis to include in this report, mantis shrimp, and a real highlight for me, a tozeuma armatum shrimp (rather rare and I had never seen one before).
In summary, the diving was excellent. I have seen a lot of weird and wonderful things underwater in my years of diving, but Raja Ampat offered my best experience thus far. Pristine reefs and plenty to see, both large and small.
Dining and Other Activities while on the Paradise Dancer
Food on board the Paradise Dancer was very good, especially when one considers that food shopping in Sorong is limited. That said, some food is flown in from Bali and fresh fish is sometimes bought from local fisherman.
The day begins at about 6:00AM with cold cereal and fruit available and then hot meals throughout the day, including a snack mid-afternoon. Breakfast after the first dive is cooked to order and lunch is a buffet. Weather permitting, all meals are served outside. Soft drinks, beer and one glass of wine at dinner are all included in the price of the trip. Spirits and additional wine are available at an additional cost (note that this is a change in policy at Peter Hughes as all wine used to be included in the price of the trip). A recommendation here might be to bring a bottle or two of your favourite wine as the cost of a bottle of wine on board the boat is rather expensive. If you are thinking about doing this, bear in mind the excess baggage costs that I mentioned above.
All-in-all, the food was of very high quality and the service by Henrick and Agus was outstanding.
As far as other activities are concerned, the only things on offer during my trip were a tour of the pearl farm in the north and a slide show about the construction of the Paradise dancer and tour of the engine room. Knowing virtually nothing about pearls, I found the pear farm tour tour (about 1½ hours) to be very interesting. The slide show about the Paradise Dancer, offered on the next to last day of the trip, was also interesting. I would like to see a few other non-diving activities offered during the trip. Maybe they could have some sea kayaks on board or offer what I understand is an excellent tour of some caves in the north. Another option would be a tour of the new Misool Eco Resort in the south (we moored within sight of it for about 24 hours).
Massages are available on board for a relatively modest fee (I think USD10). I did not avail myself of this pleasure, but understand that they were quite good, although a bit deep in terms of pressure. I prefer a softer touch, so wasn’t very interested other than the short neck and back rub following each dive.
One afternoon during the trip the crew will raise the sails. The only reason this is done is so that everybody can take pictures. Once the sails are raised, the guests get in the dive tenders and circle the boat to take pictures from various points. After everyone has taken their pictures and are back on the mother ship, the sails are lowered.
Getting Away
On the final morning of the trip a hot breakfast is available and then you are taken to the airport. I left the boat at about 7:15AM for my 9:25AM return flight to Manado on Wings Airlines. Peter Hughes staff take you to the airport and assist with the entire check-in procedure. For the Wings Airlines flight, I had a 15kg baggage allowance and was charged about IDR15,000 for each kilo over the limit. The flight was uneventful and arrived in plenty of time to allow me to catch my connecting flight on Silk Air to Singapore.
One small thing that I found a bit irritating is that upon arrival and departure in Sarong, Peter Hughes insists that you use a porter for your checked luggage. Peter Hughes staff arrange this for you and says that it is a requirement at the Sarong airport.
Well, if it is a requirement, then it only applies to foreigners as the locals certainly weren’t using porters. All of this isn’t so bad, but in addition to not being given a choice, you are required to pay for it (USD1 per bag; it is included in the bill that you receive at the end of the trip). Obviously the amount is small, but for a trip costing in excess of USD4,000 you would think that Peter Hughes could cover the USD2 or USD3 tip to the porters that is “required”.
Other Observations, Comments and Conclusions
About a week after I returned home from my trip, I received an online customer satisfaction survey from Peter Hughes. It wasn’t very detailed, but I completed it, offering some of the comments noted above and returned it. To their credit, an official from Peter Hughes responded to me.
With respect to the diver to guide ratio, he noted that “Having a guide ratio of 4:1 while diving is not something offered on any of the Dancer Fleet yachts. All of our yachts are around 8:1 or 9:1. What we can do though is to be sure our Planning Guide information includes more specific details on how the dives are conducted so that everyone is fully informed of the process.” Personally, I find this a bit disappointing when similar operations like the Arenui, Damai, Wakatobi and Pelagian all have diver to guide ratios of approximately 4:1.
In summary, it was an excellent trip and without question I will return to the Raja Ampat area (I am thinking March/April 2011). In choosing a boat, I will need to see how many guests are on the Paradise Dancer. If it is more than twelve, the diver-to-guide ratio may cause me to consider another boat (Arenui, Seven Seas, etc); otherwise, I would be very happy to go on the Paradise Dancer as the crew, the boat, the dive guides were all among the best that I have experienced.
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